2011

Apple Talk’s iPhone… Here’s What We Heard

Apple’s big day is finally here. As the news comes in we will be updating this post with the latest and greatest news. Analysis and commentary will follow. The rumor mill has been more active than ever. With Apple not bringing out a new iPhone last spring there is more pent up demand and excitement than we can remember. Still, it does look as if Apple has tried to dampen expectations a bit as today approached. Is this because they have less to show or is it that they want to “wow” us with a surprise? We will all…

Music Diary

Music Diary Songs of Note: The End of R.E.M.

A couple of weeks ago rock music lost perhaps the greatest ‘college band’ of all-time: R.E.M, as noted at Spin Magazine and elsewhere. The Georgia group defined the alt-rock sound for close to twenty years before coasting along on a massive contract for the last decade. And while it is easy to criticize their recent output (though Collapse into Now is decent, if not up to the high standard set back in the late 80’s and early 90’s), the music the group put out in their prime ranks with some of the greatest of the entire rock era. Most groups…

Music Diary, Reviews

Music Diary Semi-Quavers: Quick Looks at Recent Releases in Jazz

Welcome back to another edition of Music Diary Semi-Quavers, the quick-take reviews of recent releases. Last time I explored some recent pop & rock album releases, now I jump over to the world of jazz! And similar to before, when I say ‘jazz’, it can include just about anything in a very broad spectrum from traditional ragtime through swing, bebop, modal, free, fusion, post-bop mainstream, modern, smooth jazz and who knows what else. I believe there is good and bad music in every genre, and try not to bother too much with genre labels – though I obviously separate jazz…

News & Features

Microsoft Releases Hotmail App for Android!

One of my annoyances with mobile email has always been Hotmail. Not the service itself, but the seeming inability of any of the default email clients to properly handle Hotmail – I would get repeated streams of mails, deletion never seemed to work right, and so on. To the point where I don’t get my Hotmail on my Android phone and just check it on my iPad with full knowledge I’ll have to manage it elsewhere. We have already heard and seen how Microsoft and Apple have implemented a native sub-client for the iOS 5 Inbox that will work like…

Game Diary, Reviews

Game System Retro-Review: iPod Touch, the MP3 Player That Killed Nintendo and Sony’s Gaming Systems

Last September Apple unveiled the iPod Touch 4th Gen, with super-slim design, dual cameras, and great performance. The Retina screen and top-notch graphics clearly marked the iPod Touch as the ‘gaming system to beat’ – and games like Infinity Blade still defy the competition a year later! With Apple about to unveil their latest ‘next big thing’, I wanted to step back and take a look at the iPod Touch, the oversized MP3 player that has changed the gaming industry at a fundamental level. The Nintendo 3DS came out earlier this year, and Michael Siebenaler did a great review here….

eBooks

The eBook/Paper Book Conspiracy?

It’s human nature to get very focused on our personal niche areas of expertise. After a while, you become the proverbial hammer, and everything starts looking like a nail. I admit to having fallen into that trap before, and I fear Rich Adin fell into a similar trap with his latest column, “Is This The Next Sneak Attack on eBookers?” Basically, Rich’s issue is as follows (courtesy Teleread): I have enjoyed the “Safehold Series” of books by David Weber. Because Weber is one of my favorite authors, I buy his books in hardcover so I can read them and add them…

Reviews

Laptop Bag Review: the Acme Made Clyde St. Messenger

We’ve become big fans of Acme Made’s bags over the last few years and are always excited when they release a new design. A short time ago we brought word of a new bag, the Acme Made Clyde St. Messenger and we now have one for review that we have been using for the last few weeks. It is a big messenger bag and, in typical Acme Made fashion, it has a good bit of understated-style and quality construction. Here’s a closer look. From Acme Made: The Clyde St. Messenger is a solid, all-purpose messenger bag. It’s built tough with lots…

News & Features

Android Market Defaulting to Secondary Account? It’s Not Just You!

Do you have Android phone/tablet and have two different GMail accounts linked up to your Android Market accounts? Or just have both GMail addresses on your Android device? Well, if you do and have tried to access the Android Market recently, chances are that you have seen some sort of ‘please login’ message, or seen far fewer apps on your ‘My Apps’ list than usual. That is because according to many users (myself included), since the last update Android Market seems to frequently (but not always) default to your secondary account. Also, many folks seeing this are looking for solutions…

News & Features

Arrested Development Lives!

Does hearing “Final Countdown” make you laugh uncontrollably? Do you see Mae Whitman on “Parenthood” and immediately ask “Her?” Can you explain the concept of a “never nude”? If you answered yes, you’re clearly a fan of the short-lived but brilliant “Arrested Development” tv show. If not…it’s on Hulu. Go stream it and then come back. You’re back! Great. So no doubt you’re bitter it only had 3 seasons of incest jokes, model homes, hook hands, and frozen bananas. There have been rumors for a long time about a potential “Arrested Development” movie, but nothing concrete. However, according to TMZ…

Music Diary

Music Diary Songs of Note: Weird Al Enhances 20 Years of Nirvana’s Nevermind

As my final note for the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind (after highlighting Spin’s tribute MP3 album and VEVO’s release of the Paramount Theater concert), I wanted to highlight something I see as the video convergence of the peaks of two careers: Smells Like Teen Spirit. For Nirvana the song epitomizes everything they were trying to do musically, with a captivating visual style that makes the video one of the most memorable I have ever seen. Which, of course, made it irresistible for Weird Al … here are some factoids about his parody: This was a parody based on the…

eBooks, Editorials

Why Amazon Cares More About Content Than Apple

If you’re looking for proof that Amazon and Apple are very different in their approaches to hardware/software, look no further than how they handle library books. Or, more specifically, how Amazon handles ebooks and Apple handles audiobooks. Let’s look at the process to download an ebook to my Kindle from my local library. I head to the library website, select the book I want, check out, choose “Get for Kindle”, and then Amazon handles sending the book over WiFi to my Kindle. If I’m not near WiFi, I can download the title and use USB to transfer it to my…

eBooks, News & Features

You Have until October 15th to Opt out of the Borders/B&N Mailing List

Borders is officially gone, but if you were a registered Borders Rewards or Borders.com user, your data is still out there. B&N owns it now, in an attempt to both secure your business and block competitors from luring your dollars to them instead. For most people, this is not a big deal since you likely are ok with a bookstore having information about you. However, if you always regretted being bullied into that Borders Rewards card (sorry about that!) or you gave your email address and never used the coupons, this is your chance to make sure that data gets…

Music Diary, News & Features

Music Diary Notes: Pink Floyd’s Remaster Series Starts Rolling Out!

If you look through rock music history, there are loads of albums that are called ‘masterpieces’ or ‘necessary listening’ or ‘classics’ … but FAR fewer that actually deserve the accolades. One of those is certainly ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ by Pink Floyd. The 1973 recording is interesting musically, has plenty of thematic material that develops throughout the recording and has some fun and catchy songs. Pink Floyd has been notoriously stubborn in their desire to limit digital downloads of individual songs, wanting listeners to hear the music in its full and original album format. As a result their material…

eBooks, Editorials

State of the eBook: It’s a Post-Kindle Fire World!

In case you missed it, Amazon debuted not one (or even two) but FOUR new Kindle models this week. Even more shocking, only one of them was rumored! Apparently, Amazon has hired Apple’s rumor crackdown team; either that or everyone was so excited for an Amazon tablet we didn’t see the signs of new Kindles right under our noses. So here’s the new Kindle family: -Kindle: $79 [eInk] -Kindle Touch Wifi: $99 [eInk] -Kindle Touch Wifi+3G: $149 [eInk] -Kindle Fire (Android tablet: $199 [color] Note that the three eInk Kindle prices are the “special offers” versions. Non-subsidized Kindles are available…

Reviews

iPad 2 Case Review: ZENUS iPad 2 Leather Case ‘Prestige’ HandCraft Stitch Pouch Series

We got our hands on two different cases for the iPad 2 from a company called ZENUS. We had not seen their offerings previously but were immediately impressed by the sheer number and variety of cases they have available. The first of the two cases we’ll look at is the ZENUS iPad 2 Leather Case ‘Prestige’ HandCraft Stitch Pouch Series. The off-white case has a nice look and feel. If you tend to be a fan of pouch-style cases it is worth a look. From ZENUS: ZENUS ‘Prestige’ Handcraft Stitch Series is a pouch type case made of high quality…

News & Features

Giving the Honeywell HEPAClean 3-in-1 Advanced Air Cleaning System a Try During This Allergy Season

Have you ever taken a good look at the space just in front of you when the morning sun shines directly in your windows? If you have pets or live anywhere other than in a hermetically sealed envelope, you are probably used to seeing fine floating particles that are nearly unidentifiable … but if you have allergies they are all it takes to make your skin crawl in anticipation of your histamines’ response. Those of us who suffer from allergies are used to dealing with itchy eyes, scratchy throats, runny noses and stuffy heads … and if we are lucky,…

Music Diary, News & Features

Pop Goes the Music Diary: How Hot is Dubstep? Cereal Commercial Hot!

If you haven’t heard of the musical sub-genre ‘dubstep’, or artists like Deadmau5, Tiesto, Skrillex, and so on … I have a suggestion: GET WITH IT!!! Seriously, this no-words-needed, drum & bass inspired techno dance show electronic style of music is all the rage with kids, to the point where I was only slightly surprised to see the dubstep-heavy Wheetobix commercial from the UK. In full disclosure, my younger son is a full-on dubstep fan, and saved his summer yardwork money to buy a ticket to see Skrillex … so I know all of this stuff all too well! Source:…

News & Features

A Relevant Thought About ‘Free’

This week we learned that Samsung will be the latest Android licensee paying huge royalties to Microsoft, and a general sense that the final nails in the ‘Android is free’ coffin have been hammered. We also heard the uproar about the Spotify-Facebook linkage, and even though Spotify now has a ‘private listening mode’ they still require a Facebook account and connection. Finally, Facebook itself has gotten criticism for its practice of tracking users even when they are logged out of the service! This is yet another security issue for online services, something I talked about in Invasion of the Super-Cookies….

News & Features

Random Cool Videos: What Your Kids Are Watching On YouTube Today

The title is misleading, since you really never know … but here are three things my kids can’t see to leave alone this week – which I suppose is better than Nyan Cat yet again! First, we have an amazing show of ‘chicken beatboxing’ … which is beatboxing, but with chicken sounds! Yeah … just watch: Next we have a video simply Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom. It is totally stupid, which means you won’t get it out of your head today. Finally … minimalist cartoons that are somehow some of the most amusing stuff middle and high…

Reviews

iPad 2 Case Review: ZENUS iPad 2 Leather Case with Stand ‘Prestige’ Crocodile Sportism Series

This is the second of two iPad 2 cases from ZENUS that we are reviewing. This time out we are looking at the ZENUS iPad 2 Leather Case with Stand ‘Prestige’ Crocodile Sportism Series, a pearl white folio-style case made of leather that is embossed in a manner that makes it look like crocodile skin. Here’s a closer look. From ZENUS: ZENUS ‘Prestige’ Crocodile Sportism Series has its unique contemporary style by using bold lines and colors on the pressed cowhide that resembles ‘gator hide’ which has a touch of exotic crocodile skin to enhance its luxury appeal and style….

News & Features

Random Cool Video: The Imperial March Played on Floppy Disk Drives

Anyone old enough to remember how floppy disk drives had some very characteristic sounds will instant appreciate this video – the Imperial March from Star Wars played on two floppy disks. According to Silent’s official site: How does it work? It’s nothing new and it’s very simple. The sound comes from a magnetic head moved by stepper motor. To make a specific sound, head must be moved with appropriate frequency. FDD has a simple interface – the description may be found for example [ HERE ]. To move the head you need to activate the drive by pulling the DRVSB0…

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